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While about 5 million standalone Blu-ray Disc players will be purchased by broadband households in America this year, standalone player sales are up, but “still not taking over the world,” Tricia Parks, CEO of Parks Associates, said in sharing a forecast of consumer electronics spending for the rest of the year.

Brick-and-mortar store spending was actually up between the first half of 2008 and the first half of 2009, more than online spending, Parks said, which she partially ...read more

The number of Internet-connected TVs used as networked devices in American homes will nearly triple in 2010, from 2.4 million in 2009 to more than 7 million, according to research presented Aug. 27 by Parks Associates. Consumers will use those connected TVs to access VOD, rent movies and access content on their home PCs.

“The online video services are not compelling enough to convince consumers to cancel their pay TV services,” said Kurt Scherf, VP and principal analyst for ...read more

Following a first quarter that saw little or no pricing shift on Blu-ray players, several retailers have slashed unit prices in addition to marketing substantially discounted refurbished models.

Research firm Parks Associates said consumers are willing to purchase a Blu-ray Disc player if priced no more than $50 above a standard-DVD player.

From the article, "Retail Drops Blu-ray Player Prices, Ups Used Selections" by Erik Gruenwedel

However, Parks Associates said about 33% of U.S. broadband homes are interested in networked set-top boxes, which the Dallas-based research firm said would result in increased demand for interactive and personalized TV services and would push annual worldwide set-top box shipments over 200 million by 2013.

“While less than 10% are willing to pay a monthly fee, demand is still on an upward trend, especially as the set-top connects to more and more services,” said Jayant Dasar ...read more

This market could translate into $250 million in additional revenues for the consumer electronics industry, according to research firm Parks Associates.

“Access to additional content is the key demand driver,” said John Barrett, director of research, Parks Associates. “Most people can get popular video titles through their pay-TV providers, but if they want to watch niche or personal content on their TV, they have to burn or buy DVDs. With a connected TV, they suddenly have ...read more

The Connected Platform solution would let consumers access not just DVR-recorded content, but also music, video, photos and Internet content from a variety of locations with compliant data devices.

According to Kurt Scherf, VP and principal analyst at Parks Associates, 43% of U.S. broadband users found multiroom DVR features appealing, and 16% would pay more to receive the feature.

From the article, "Macrovision Expands DVR Capabilities" by John Latchem

More than 33% of American households with broadband want Web features for their Internet-connected TVs and set-top boxes, according to a new report from research firm Parks Associates.

“Broadband households are growing accustomed to viewing video off the Internet,” said Kurt Scherf, VP and principal analyst and Parks Associates. “Demand for Web and user-generated content will increase, and those desires will influence their CE purchases and service-provider choices. Widgets ...read more

The report from Parks Associates said that increased availability of connected video game consoles, networked TVs and video-on-demand (VOD) set-top boxes will spearhead the growth in user-generated revenue.

“Consumption of premium Internet video content to date has been low,” said Kurt Scherf, VP, principal analyst of Parks Associates. “Services have been available only on less-than-optimal screens, [including] PCs and portable multimedia players.”

The analyst said advan ...read more